Have you ever wondered . . . 

 why some people 

stay naturally flexible and strong
into their 80s and 90s—
without stretching or strength training?
There's a clear and simple reason for this.
At age 78, I'm lucky beyond measure
to be living this! 

Hello! I'm Kathleen Porter 

My wish for you is that you enjoy
the pain-free comfort,
flexible ease, and solid strength
that's waiting to be
re-discovered within you!

By the time I was 47, I was a yoga teacher and massage therapist with a secret:  I struggled with some of the same chronic pain issues that people turned to me to help them resolve. The irony of this was not lost on me, and I struggled with being hypocritical as much as I did with the pain I experienced.

I've been thanking my lucky stars ever since I found my way to Jean Couch, a former yoga teacher in California who was teaching something she called "Balance," based on the teachings of her mentor, the late Noelle Perez of Paris. On my first trip from Hawaii to meet Jean in 1994, she guided me to rediscovering a profound peace that resided within me that was strangely familiar but had remained inaccessible to me for a long time.

What I learned changed almost everything I believed I knew about how our bodies work. 

For years, I'd been approaching my body the same way our fitness culture teaches us—stretch muscles that are tight and strengthen muscles that are weak. But when I traveled to remote places in countries where I observed people carrying stunningly heavy loads on their heads with ease, a realization struck like a shockwave: This was possible because the weight of the load on the head was borne by and distributed through aligned bones, while elastic muscles moved the bones without effort or strain! 

It turns out human uprightness is governed by the same laws of physics that dictate the rules for the buildings we construct. When bones align along the vertical axis, acting like posts and wall studs in a house or a skyscraper, forces of gravity can be distributed directly through them. This is the precise alignment that babies and toddlers  discover within themselves when figuring out how to sit up, stand, and walk.

This appears to be quite revolutionary: Structural alignment (or misalignment) determines whether many of our muscles are uncomfortably tight or if they are comfortably elastic.  

Think about this: we live in a muscle-centric society that has become somewhat obsessed with building strength in muscles as a way to "hold ourselves up" and counteract a growing epidemic of structural collapse (i.e., slouching). But what if this approach is backwards? What if our skeleton's primary job is to hold us up by serving as an underlying framework of support for the body, and the goal of our muscles is to be elastic and move our bones with utter ease?

(Okay! Here's where I hear familiar objections that insist our bones could never hold themselves up without the support of muscles, not to mention tendons, ligaments, and fascia. And yes, this is absolutely true, especially in terms of the abdominal core that stabilizes the upright spine.  But try to think of it this way: While soft tissue does play a secondary role in supporting the upright skeleton, an aligned skeleton provides a structural framework that allows muscles to be free of unnecessary tension or chronic weakness). 

The difference is profound. Instead of feeling either strong OR relaxed, you experience both simultaneously. Instead of being flexible OR stable, you experience integrated ease. Instead of cycling between intense effort and exhaustion, you enjoy enduring and effortless vitality.

Natural alignment is our innate human state. Once it's lost (usually at a young age) it can only be regained from the inside out, by way of focusing one's attention on oneself. When I first learned this, I hoped to move through the process of applying a few simple rules quickly and not have to keep thinking about it so much. Hahaha! To succeed with this, being on autopilot is not an option.

                                                       😹 

                                                                    But herein lies the silver lining . . .

        Natural alignment is a moment-by-moment state of embodied presence, a recurring                    awareness of BEING a body rather than just having one that you notice when it hurts.

      You start by learning a simple set of rules that you apply to yourself as often as you can                      remember, in everything you do —sitting, standing, bending, walking, lifting, carrying . . .

    You will forget and then remember, forget and remember and, in time, you'll be remembering                  more often, without having to think about it as much — until you forget again.

                                                                    Such is the way of mindfulness!

                         It turns out that mindfulness and alignment are perfect partners,                                                                                 with each one enhancing the other.

Through the books I’ve written and the classes and workshops I’ve taught over the past thirty years, I’ve never tired of witnessing people shed years of discomfort, pain, and overexertion when they discover how to reclaim the fluid, comfortable movement that is every human's birthright.

Today, at 78, I move with more ease and flexibility than I did in my 20s, 30s, or 40s—not because I exercise (I hardly "exercise" at all other than to be moderately active while walking, gardening, or dancing around my house to music), but because I learned, years ago, how to work with my body's design in (almost) all that I do, instead of working against it.

This is what I want to share with you—not just relief from stiffness or pain, but a complete transformation in how you experience living in a blissfully comfortable body. 

The journey you take is from struggle to ease, from muscle compensation to bone-deep strength, from holding yourself together with tension to feeling held by structural support. 

When experiencing the support of your aligned bones, you now know that it's safe to fully relax without worrying about giving in to slouching collapse.

Your body remembers this wisdom. It's simply waiting for you to come home to yourself.

JOIN the FREE Workshop!

3  Secrets to Finding Freedom from 

Chronic Stiffness and Pain 

                                                    This FREE pre-recorded event                                                       replays  every 15 minutes.

     Sign up when you're ready to jump in, and the link will be immediately emailed to you. It's FREE!

Put yourself in charge of how you feel!

 Learn what healthy babies and toddlers discover

            on their own before our innate design is forgotten.

                 Books and Sitting Wedges to Support                    Your  Alignment Journey

Natural Posture for Pain-Free Living

The Practice of Mindful Alignment

"Never before in the world of fitness has there been a more readable, ground-breaking, or seminal book than Natural Posture for Pain-Free Living. Through this revolutionary book, Kathleen Porter is about to rock your world!"

Jean Couch, Founder and Director of the Balance Center;  Co-author of The Runner's Yoga Book

Healthy Posture for Babies and Children

 Tools for Helping Children to Sit, Stand and Walk Naturally

"Human beings of every age can benefit from this book. Our eyes marvel at Porter’s outstanding photos, as our bodies adjust, relax, and align with these easy-to-use tools. Healthy Posture for Babies and Children is a treasure—beautiful, practical, and inspiring." 

Sonia Story, Creator of Brains and Sensory  Foundations                                                                              

Sorry to say . . . 

Due to cost-cutting measures, Inner Traditions, the publisher of Natural Posture for Pain-Free Living ,  now prints this book in black and white. Regrettably, this has greatly diminished the impact of the many beautiful and instructive color photographs and illustrations. 
                                         

      I recommend:

• The Kindle version viewed on a color screen (iPad or computer) if possible; or

• A used copy of the original color print edition via online bookstore; or

• The B&W printed edition, which is still far better than not reading this book at all!  ; )

 The Little Cushion that Does Big Things

Small enough to take along in your bag, The Wedge can be used in almost every sitting situation—in a chair, on the floor, in your car,
at a ball game, at the movies, on a plane—and, of course, while
working at a computer.

Filled with recycled rubber sand (regular Wedges) or buckwheat hulls
(our more light-weight Travel Wedges), these nifty cushions help keep your pelvis parked at its optimal natural angle for comfortable sitting.

A Wedge also makes a perfect gift for anyone who sits.  🤣